Collette not granted full release

A Utah State University committee upheld the USU Athletic Department’s decision not to grant sophomore forward David Collette a full release on Tuesday.

“David Collette chose to leave Utah State two days prior to its season opening contest,” the Utah State Athletic Depart said in a statement. “Which hamstrung the team in terms of recruiting a new player to that position or even practicing with other players for that position. The timing of David’s decision to leave the team is the reason Utah State is handling his release this way.”

The decision by the committee to uphold the partial release means Collette may not contact or have contact from other universities, but is free to enroll at any institution he wishes. He is also not eligible to receive any athletic aid until after the fall 2016 semester. Collette is still eligible to receive government grants and student loans.

“Utah State University has followed all applicable NCAA procedures and applied consistent internal practices in declining the request for release,” USU Athletics said.

The news comes after Collette, who had been the team’s leading scorer in the preseason, quit the team two days before the regular season started. Collette redshirted the 2011-2012 season at Utah State before serving a two year LDS mission.

Upon return from his mission, Collette started all 31 games last season and ranked No. 14 in the nation for field goal percentage after the season with 59 percent. He finished second on the team in both scoring and rebounding with 12 points and five rebounds per contest. He also set a USU freshman record for blocks in a season with 56, the fourth most all-time at the university.

“I was shocked when he came into my office today and said he was going to quit,” Duryea said on Nov. 11. “I think there were a lot of factors in play that, unfortunately, have become a trend in college basketball of schools poaching other schools’ players. I don’t feel good and don’t like how things transpired.”

— kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com

Twitter: @kalen_taylor